Prefabricated tobacco strand for self-made cigarette and tobacco product consisting of such tobacco strand

ABSTRACT

A prefabricated tobacco strand for self-made cigarette comprises a tubular tobacco core containing fine cut tobacco, and a tubular wrapper surrounding the tobacco core and retaining the tubular shape of the tobacco strand. The tobacco strand cannot be smoked by itself, but can be smoked when inserted into a paper tube adapted for cigarettes. The wrapper is made of a porous paper with high air permeability. The outer surface of the wrapper is formed so that the frictional coefficient between said outer surface and the inner surface of the paper tube are adapted to permit insertion of the tobacco strand into the paper tube substantially without deformation.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention generally relates to tobacco products adapted for producing self-made cigarettes. More particularly, the invention is directed to a prefabricated tobacco strand, and to a tobacco product consisting of such tobacco strand.

BACKGROUND

The preparation of cigarettes by the consumer has a great tradition all over the world, the various methods of which have been well known for a long time. One of the most familiar way of self-making of cigarettes is the so called self-rolling of cigarettes, wherein some fine cut tobacco is placed on a cigarettes paper leaf with an adhesive strip arranged along one of its edges, then the cigarette paper leaf is rolled around the tobacco, and finally, the cigarette paper leaf is adhered to itself along the adhesive strip. In this way, cigarettes with substantially the same appearance as the industrially made cigarettes can be prepared manually. Self-rolling of cigarettes by oneself requires, however, a certain manual skill, and is relatively time-consuming. Even with skilled self-rollers, the prepared cigarettes themselves generally differ as regards their size (at least their diameter) and their tautness, and the degree of filling over the length of the cigarette also varies. A further drawback of manual rolling of the cigarettes is that a small amount of tobacco loss is unavoidable during this operation, which may result in a significant financial loss, in particular with expensive tobaccos.

Similar problems also exist with cigarette-filling. Although there are a number of more or less comfortable devices for filling empty cigarette tubes (normally filter-tipped) with tobacco, the use of such devices requires even more manual skill.

For eliminating the above mentioned deficiencies, German utility models No. DE 8,326,921 and DE 8,309,186 are directed to a tobacco product suitable for pre-paring self-made cigarettes by the consumer. This tobacco product comprises an industrially made (normally filter-tipped) paper tube that cannot be smoked by itself, and the outer diameter and length of which correspond to those of the normal industrially made cigarettes. The tobacco product further comprises a strand-like tobacco charge, a so called tobacco strand, surrounded by a wrapper. The tobacco charge is adapted to be transferred from the wrapping material into an empty cigarette paper tube by means of an associated plunger. This tobacco product is suitable for the conventional self-rolling of cigarettes and also for transferring the tobacco from the tobacco strand into the paper tube. An advantage of this solution is that due to the industrially made tobacco strand, always the same quantity of tobacco is filled into the paper tube, and additionally, the quantity of the tobacco that can be filled into the paper tube corresponds to the tobacco content of the industrially made cigarettes. In the aforementioned utility models, however, the wrapper surrounding the tobacco strand is made of a material that cannot be smoked, thus with respect to the final cigarette product, the strand wrapper constitutes a superfluous aid which may be used only once. Furthermore, transferring the tobacco from the tobacco strand into the empty paper tube by means of the above mentioned plunger, as well as simultaneously holding the paper tube and the tobacco strand joined thereto during the transferring operation require a substantial manual skill even for experienced consumers.

A similar proposal is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,378, wherein the tobacco strand is provided with an additional outer wrapper that facilitates the insertion of the tobacco strand into the cigarette paper tube. After insertion of the tobacco strand into the paper tube, said outer wrapper, which is typically made of aluminium foil, plastic foil, etc., and which cannot be smoked either, is to be pulled out from the paper tube while the tobacco strand should stably remain within the paper tube.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to eliminate the above mentioned deficiencies and to provide a tobacco product for self-made cigarettes that can be used more easily and can be produced at a reduced cost.

The disclosed tobacco product comprises a prefabricated tobacco strand for a self-made cigarette, comprised of a tubular tobacco core containing fine cut tobacco, and a tubular wrapper surrounding the tobacco core so as to retain the tubular shape of the tobacco strand. The tobacco strand cannot be smoked by itself, but can be smoked when inserted into a paper tube adapted for cigarettes. The tubular wrapper is made of a porous paper with high air permeability making its use alone difficult, but with an outer surface formed so that the frictional coefficient between that outer surface and the inner surface of the paper tube allows insertion of the tubular wrapper into the paper tube substantially without deformation.

Thus, the tobacco product allows formation of a self-made cigarette comprised of a pre prefabricated paper tube provided with a filter tip at one end, and a prefabricated tubular tobacco strand that will be inserted into the paper tube. The tobacco strand comprises a tubular tobacco core of fine cut tobacco, and an outer tubular wrapper surrounding the tobacco core and retaining the tubular shape of the tobacco strand.

Preferably, the tubular wrapper is open at least at one end.

DESCRIPTION OF PRESENTLY PREFERRED EXAMPLE OF THE INVENTION Brief Description of Figures

The invention is now described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the components of a tobacco product consisting of the tobacco strand according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cigarette prepared from the tobacco product according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, components of a tobacco product comprising of the tobacco strand according to the invention is illustrated in a perspective view. The tobacco product includes a prefabricated cylindrical paper tube 10 to which a filter tip is also connected at manufacturing. Inside the paper tube 10, there is an elongated, hollow tubular space 14 that is sized and shaped for receiving fine cut tobacco. The paper tube 10 and the filter tip 12 together form a cigarette tube 16. The tobacco product also includes a tobacco strand 20 with stable dimensions that cannot be smoked by itself, but when inserted into the paper tube 10, it can be entirely smoked. The tobacco strand 20 is covered with a wrapper 22 preferably made of a porous paper with high air permeability. The tobacco strand 20 contains a tobacco core 24 of fine cut tobacco. The tobacco core 24 is industrially filled into the tubular wrapper 22 that is open at least at one end. The density of the tobacco in the tobacco core 24 corresponds to the tobacco density of industrially made cigarettes. Also the length of the tobacco strand 20 is preferably the same as the length of the tobacco containing section of the conventional industrial cigarettes. The outer diameter of the tobacco strand 20 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the paper tube 10, thereby allowing the tobacco strand 20 to be easily inserted into the paper tube 10. Also, the frictional coefficient between the exterior of tubular wrapper 22 and the interior of paper tube 10 also aids in the insertion of tubular wrapper 22 into paper tube 10. The Bendtsen number, referenced in the following table, relates to this frictional coefficient and the range for that number can be about +/−30% of the noted mean, so that its value can range between about 750 ml/min to about 1390 ml/min. By using these values for the Bendtsen number, the frictional coefficient of the outer surface of the tubular wrapper 22, relative to the interior surface of the paper tube 10, is small enough for an easy insertion of the tobacco strand 20 in the paper tube 10, but at the same time high enough to prevent its accidentally falling out of the paper tube 10 following its insertion.

It should be noted that the length of the tobacco strand 20 may be different from the length of the space 14 of the paper tube 10. The length of the tobacco strand 20 may be, for example, twice, three times, or more times the length of the paper tube 10 that is adapted for receiving it. In this case, by cutting the tobacco strand 20 in two, in thirds or as needed so that the cut portions can be used and so that several cigarettes can be prepared from a single tobacco strand 20.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cigarette 30 prepared from the tobacco product according to the invention. The finished cigarette 30 comprises a tobacco strand 20 entirely inserted into the paper tube 10 in the direction indicated by the arrow A shown in FIG. 1. In order to allow for the tobacco strand 20 to be inserted into the paper tube 10 easily and without any deformation, the cross-section of the tobacco strand 20 is substantially circular along its entire length, similar to the cross-section of the paper tube 10.

Alternatively, the wrapper 22 may be made of a porous paper with high air permeability, or the tobacco core 24 may be wrapped by any other cigarette paper having a substantial amount of perforation, openings thereon so that the tobacco strand 20 cannot be smoked by itself.

The friction between the outer surface of the wrapper 22 of the tobacco strand 20 and the inner surface of the paper tube 10 is minimal so as to allow to insert the tobacco strand 20 into the paper tube 10 as easily as possible, without deformation and without any loss of the fine cut tobacco.

The following table contains the most relevant physical parameters of the high air permeability porous paper adapted for using as the material of the wrapper 22.

Standard Parameter Unit Mean value of measurement grammage g/m² 23 ISO 536 thickness (1 layer) μm 57.5 ISO 534 tensile strength N/15 mm 26.7 ISO 1924-2 stretch at break % 1.9 ISO 1924-2 Bendtsen roughness ml/min 1069 ISO 8791-2 residue on ignition fiber ash ISO 2144 air permeability CU 6000 ISO 2965 Klemm capillary rise mm/10 min 18 ISO 8787

For the use of the tobacco strand and the tobacco product according to the invention, there is no need of either an external aid, like a plunger, or a wrapper facilitating the insertion of the tobacco strand into the paper tube and requiring a subsequent removal thereof.

The tobacco product according to the invention has the following advantages: exact pre-portioning of the tobacco in the tobacco strand by industrial preparation; invariable taste of the tobacco strand; invariable smoking characteristics (with respect to both of the smoking period and the smoking draw); invariable and predetermined content of harmful substances in the tobacco strand, based on a specific size of the paper tube; and self-making of cigarettes manually is a very easy process. 

1. A prefabricated tobacco strand for self-made cigarette, said tobacco strand comprising a tubular tobacco core containing fine cut tobacco, and a tubular wrapper surrounding the tobacco core and retaining the tubular shape of the tobacco strand—which can be smoked when inserted into a paper tube adapted for cigarettes, wherein the tubular wrapper is made of a porous paper with high air permeability, and the outer surface of the tubular wrapper is formed so that the frictional coefficient between an outer surface of the tubular wrapper and an inner surface of the paper tube are adapted so that the tobacco strand can be inserted into the paper tube substantially without deformation.
 2. The prefabricated tobacco strand of claim 1, wherein the tubular wrapper is open at least at one end.
 3. A tobacco product for self-made cigarette, said tobacco product consisting of a pre prefabricated paper tube provided with a filter tip at its one end, and a prefabricated tubular tobacco strand adapted for inserting into said paper tube, said tobacco strand comprising a tubular tobacco core containing fine cut tobacco, and a tubular wrapper surrounding the tobacco core and retaining the tubular shape of the tobacco strand, which can be smoked when inserted into a paper tube adapted for cigarettes, wherein the tubular wrapper is made of a porous paper with high air permeability, and the outer surface of the tubular wrapper is formed so that the frictional coefficient between an outer surface of the tubular wrapper and an inner surface of the paper tube are adapted so that the tobacco strand can be inserted into the paper tube substantially without deformation.
 4. The tobacco product of claim 3, the tubular wrapper is open at its at least at one end. 